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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 11, 2018

Charlie Montoyo

Las Vegas, Nevada

Q. Alex Cora has spoken widely about he was an unexperienced manager and being the GM of the Puerto Rican team, and managing them prepared him for the role. What do you believe has prepared you for this role?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: 18 years managing in the Minor Leagues and then being a bench coach last year helped a lot, is going to help a lot because it's managing in a way, thinking ahead and helping Kevin Cash during the game. So, 18 years and my 4 years in the Big Leagues.

Q. What about the fact that there are now three managers of Puerto Rican blood total, four Hispanic managers in the Majors? You being a part, what does it mean to you?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: It was awesome last year when it happened. What happened in Puerto Rico with the storm and stuff. And then that Sunday that Alex Cora wins the World Series, that was an awesome time for the Puerto Rico people. So, yeah, it's a great time for that.

Q. You're a little nervous in this process?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: No, I was going to be more nervous if I was back there.

Q. How exciting is it going to be, you worked developing players, that's what you really did, all your years with the Bulls, the fact that you get to work hopefully with very young players. What does that mean to you, being a bilingual manager?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: It's something I've done all my years, working with young guys. And playing with the Blue Jays 19 times, that's going to be an exciting team to manage, whoever gets it. And, yeah, so I'm really looking forward to it. And I'm excited about my coaching staff, all the experience, and that's going to help a lot. Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Q. What has been the biggest change since you were named manager? How has your life changed?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I had a lot of friends before, but I've gotten more now (laughter). So, yeah, a lot of phone calls, a lot of texts, but it's been awesome. It's been awesome.

And I think the biggest thing was when I got the call when I talked to my parents, you know, they're getting older, so I FaceTimed my dad, he's 80-something years old, and when I told him, that was beautiful for me to tell him. Okay, you guys need to sit down because I've got to tell you something. And that was a great moment.

Q. What are your parents' names and what did you tell them, assuming you told them in Spanish?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Yeah, Nedia [ph] and Felix Montoyo. And my dad is one of those guys every time I interview, Are they ever going to give you a chance? And if it happens, it happens, Dad. So for that to happen just now and that he's still here, it was a great time. It was awesome.

Q. What type of team do you want your team to be? What style of baseball is Charlie Montoyo baseball?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I just want them to play the right way. If I have guys who have speed, I've got to make an adjustment to whatever team we get. From experience I know that if you get a team that hits three-run homers, I'm not going to be hitting and running. Seems like the team we've got, we could do both. That's pretty cool.

Q. What have you done since you got named Blue Jays manager up until today? What does one do?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: First thing I did was call every player. To me from experience, communication is the biggest thing, from a manager. And that's the first thing I did; call every player and talk to them and just, Call me if you need anything. And every call was awesome. The response was really cool.

Q. Was there one player that stood out in his response to the reaction of hearing from you?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: The first guy, one of the first guys I called was Kevin Pillar and he was in the plane on his way to Japan. He was really excited. That was fun for me to hear how excited he was. He said, I can't wait to throw champagne over your head when we get to the championship. That was pretty cool. That was one of the best ones I had. He said, I'll call you back when I come back from Japan.

Q. John Schneider coached. How much do you think it's going to help? What interactions have you had with him?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You know what is the beautiful thing with that call, I know what it's like. When I told John that would you mind coaching for me in the Big Leagues, how excited he got. He's got a baby and I just told him that. So I know the feeling.

And I know there's going to be more movement in the Minor Leagues, when coaches move up and stuff. So that was one of my favorite calls, yeah. And actually he's very good, all the players like him. They all played for him, so that's very good.

Q. How would you describe your couple of days here so far in terms of what you've been able to accomplish and get up to speed with people in the organization?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: It's been great. And seeing all the guys, the Bruce Mannos and Mitch, all those guys, how happy they are for me. And that's been the best thing so far in these Winter Meetings.

Q. You have a relationship with Vladi, Sr., and you're going to have a strong one with Vladi, Jr. How have you talked to them?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I saw Vladi two years ago when he came to Toronto to hit BP before the game and stuff. So I talked to him a little bit. If Vlad, Jr. is half of what his dad was, that's going to be fun for us to watch. I'm looking forward to seeing him play every day.

Q. Have you talked to him much?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I went to the Fall League, I do live in Tucson, so I drove to Phoenix and I talked to him a little bit. And he seemed just like his dad, real humble and a good player.

Q. What do you like about the coaching staff that you put together? And how do you envision everyone working together? Because Ross said before he kind of wants his staff to not work alone, everyone work together. What do you like about them?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I like where they're coming from. They've been coming from winning places. Dave Hudgens just won the World Series, Mark Budzinski from Cleveland, Shelley Duncan winning the Minor Leagues, Schneider winning the Minor Leagues. They know how to teach winning. That's what's most exciting with me for those guys, and they know how to teach. It's perfect.

Q. How have you guys already started working together in this offseason?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I just flew in for a couple of days so we can talk about Spring Training. Walker came on the red eye just to be here for a day so we can talk about it. So I appreciate that. And that's the kind of thing that we have, the coaching staff that we have.

Q. (Inaudible.)
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You know, I'm lucky to have -- we're lucky to have in the Minor Leagues great coaches and managers, and I'm lucky to have our Triple-A manager is outstanding, so I'm going to be talking to him a lot. So if Vladi doesn't make the club and he's in Triple-A, I'm going to be talking to him all the time. I know what it's like. Whenever he tells me he's ready to go, going to see him every day and he's going to have a good feel when that kid is ready to be in the Big Leagues.

Q. In your experience, do you have to manage a guy like Vladi different because there's so much expectation?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: No, I just want them to play the right way. I'm going to be talking to everyone the same. Yeah, he's going to have the pressure because he's just a kid.

Q. Has Alex Cora reached out to you and given you any advice? He's kind of busy.
CHARLIE MONTOYO: He was busy but he did call, during the World Series he called that he was proud of me. And I'm always going to appreciate that, that he did that.

Q. As you know your roster a little bit and have talked to the different pieces, have you started to get a vision of how the different parts are going to fit with your lineup, sharing some thoughts on what a batting order could look like?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Yeah, I'm not there yet. But what this team reminds me a little bit of is Boston five years ago when Mookie Betts was there, and finished last, and look where they are now. So that's my hope, Boston, the team they have now, that all these kids become players like that. That's my hope and I think that's what's going to happen.

Q. Just talking a little bit about Vlad, when the guy comes up with his pedigree, do you see a need to protect him in the batting lineup, to not put too much pressure on him or do you put the guy in the middle because that's where you expect him to end up?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: That's going to be a talk with all the coaches and stuff and we're going to decide where to hit him. I'm not going to decide that on my own. It's going to be a team deal where we're going to hit him.

Q. From a developmental standpoint, what are your thoughts on the best way to integrate early on?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: If he is what I think it is, he'll be in the top of the lineup. But, again, it's going to be a talk, we're going to talk with the Minor League people and the coaching staff where we're going to hit him in the lineup.

Q. You served the role as a bench coach last year. And your selection of Dave Hudgens, what do you like about Hudgens as your bench coach thinking you just served as a bench coach to Kevin?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: He flew down to Tucson to interview with me. I never knew him before. Talking to Kevin Cash, they knew him from Cleveland and so they said this guy's awesome. And it took me, what, ten minutes talking to him, I said this guy is going to be great. He knows the game, he's managed winter ball. He's done it all. He's been a great hitting coach. So I'm really, really happy that he took this job, the bench coach's job, because he had a good run in Houston. And he decided to come with me and I appreciate that. We just gained a great baseball man.

Q. What kind of work needs to be done between now and you arriving in Dunedin?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Talking about Spring Training. Spring Training is in construction now, so we've got only three fields. So we've got to deal with that. We'll start Spring Training later, later in the day, like 10:00, give the guys more sleep time. All the talk about that.

Q. Kevin Cash spoke very highly of you yesterday. What did you learn from him as a right-hand man and what can you take from what Tampa has been able to accomplish over the last couple of years in your time here in Toronto?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: To Kevin's credit, it's not that easy to never manage and go manage in the Big Leagues. And he used everybody's opinions. He doesn't have an ego, which is awesome to work with. And he likes to have fun. Whatever happens, he likes to have fun. That's what I told the coaches already. Whatever happens, just have fun. Players are watching you, if you're uptight and stuff, they're going to get uptight. Just have fun, and whatever happens, we're lucky to be here. So here we go. Let's go.

So that's what he did. Like he'll be tense a little bit and it will be my job to throw up a joke. Stuff like that, make him laugh. And that's why he never got thrown out, every time he started yelling something, stay in the game. Stuff like that.

Q. Are you coming into this season prepared that it could be a tough season, a transitioning season for some of the young kids and there could be more losses potentially?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I don't think like that, we're just going to play to win, from the first game in Spring Training until the end until October or November whenever the season ends. So, yeah, we're going to play to win. That's my mindset right now. Not thinking of wins or losses, just play to win. One game at a time.

Q. In the Minor Leagues I read, and I heard from people that one of your strategies was to play players very regularly, so nobody misses too many games in a row. Is that an approach that you're going to bring to the Major League level?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I'm hoping so, yeah. It's tough for a kid to not ever play, and all of a sudden try to be a team guy. So everybody from the 25th guy to the No. 1 guy to everybody that play have a chance. So that's my goal, yes.

Q. How much do you believe is an advantage to being bilingual, especially when you have a player with the pedigree, that comes with the name already? The thing that you can speak to him, he doesn't speak English well yet, he's working on it. How much do you think it would be beneficial as a player as he transitions to the majors?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I think it helps a lot, not so much for me, for him, to talk in Spanish to tell me his feelings. I know what it was like, when I first came to the States I spoke no English, so I know that feeling. For him to come and talk in Spanish to me and tell me how he feels, I think that's going to be great for the kids.

Q. Do you think that was a factor with the administration of the Blue Jays, and obviously you have a great pedigree as a manager in the minors and your work with the Rays, but being bilingual, do you think that was a factor in your hiring?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You'll have to ask Ross.

Q. How much do you think you'll bring to the Rays, you have your own style, you managed in the Minor Leagues, and then being around the Rays and their "little engine that could" mentality, the opener, shifting platoons, how much do you think you'll bring or how much would you do that you did otherwise?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Of course being with the Rays we are used to shift a lot. I was in charge of the shifting with the Rays, as you know. So I consider myself a blend of old school and analytics, and I've seen it work with the Rays. But I'm also going to use my gut feeling. I'm going to bring both. The opener, I saw it work, I saw the shifting work. We're going to be using all the stuff, for sure.

Q. With all the uncertainty in who lines up in the rotation right now, you have some spots to fill, how much of a discussion for you guys right now is possibly going with the opener as a strategy, using that as a factor as you're doing your offseason shopping?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Yeah, I saw it work, but we haven't gotten into that yet. We're talking about Spring Training, how we're going to deal with Spring Training. But, yeah, I think that deal works. We've got the right pitching to do it, we're going to do it. If we don't have it -- you've got to have the right personnel to do it. And the Rays did it. They have the right people to do it.

Q. Is it something that you would push for?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: If we had right pitching to do it it's going to work. If you don't have the right pitching -- at the end of the day you've got to have good pitching. You can use the opener all you want but if we have guys throwing 98 to open the game, that works pretty good.

Q. (Inaudible.)
CHARLIE MONTOYO: We're working on it right now, we have a young guy, we're going to give him a chance to compete. And again, it's a tough division, we all know that. We're going to give him a chance and see what they can do.

Q. (Inaudible.)
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Yeah, if he can throw 98 (laughter). Again, the first time the Rays did it was against the Angels, and when you think about it, it was the right-handers, and then we used Romo, Romo has been a closer, and it worked out great. Yarbrough was a lefty, he had to face those guys twice in the lineup instead of three times. We know the average goes up the third time like .7-something, 70 points up, yeah. That's how that came out, worked out great. And again, that second guy has to be very good to take you to the fifth or sixth inning.

Q. When it comes to helping and teaching and developing young players, how hands-on is your approach? Is it more like do you actually go out and do drills and help coach them or is it just talking to them?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: For me it's more talking and the mental side of it because I have the right coaching staff to work with them. But I'll be the one in my office, doing BP, talking to them about anything, knowing their feelings, how they feel and stuff, that will be my job, just talking to them. When it comes to fielding and outfield play, that's my coaching staff will be doing that.

Q. You worked on shifting a lot with the Rays. How do you feel about MLB possibly eliminating the shift?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I don't think they should. They're Big League players, they should make the adjustment. I think they will. Sooner or later they're going to make an adjustment, because they're the best hitters in the world so I think they will.

Q. What excites you about Vlad, Jr.? You know him, what excites you about him?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: From what I hear, the moment he gets there -- he could be one of the best players in baseball. So that's exciting. And again, being at the Triple-A level for eight years, I know sometimes that doesn't translate to the Big Leagues. But what they say about him, he's going to translate and be one of the best players when everybody starts playing, so that's exciting for me to hear. I'm looking forward to seeing it every day.

Q. What do you anticipate being the biggest difference between managing Triple-A players, and you're trying to get ready for the majors, to managing Major League players who are already there?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: The Triple-A, it's not that easy, it's a lot of communication. And the Big League level is the same way; you have to be talking to guys all the time. At the Triple-A League level, when you call somebody up, I know I have to talk to somebody else that's not happy, because they're not going to the Big Leagues. And everybody is on the same page, that's what I'm going to be doing. Talking to those guys all the time.

Q. You had so long in the minors, and being a manager, is there a moment you don't feel like a rookie manager, because of that experience?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You know what's funny, when I first got the job to coach third base, somebody asked me, are you ready to coach third base in the bigs? Yeah, I've been practicing for 18 years. So it's kind of the same feeling. So, yeah, that's how I feel.

Q. There's not a feeling that you're a rookie?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: No, no.

Q. You're about to spend a lot of time in Canada. What do you remember about your first experience there as a player, as a young man?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You know what's funny, I've been in the Big Leagues with three teams and two of them are Canadian teams. So I've got my cup of coffee with the Expos, I played in Ottawa. And now I'm going to manage the Blue Jays. I love Canada. That's one of my favorite places to go during the year, because as you know, the Rays go there three times a year. I love that place. And I'm the manager there now.

Q. Do you remember anything about your time?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: It was freezing in April, I know that. But we're indoors in Toronto, so it's okay.

Q. Is that why you hit .200?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: No (laughter). Yeah.

Q. As you go around and start Spring Training in the season and you see Rocco and Kevin and Joe Maddon, do you get a sense this kind of Rays coaching (inaudible)?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: It was funny, I was talking to them. I'm hoping I win 95, Kevin 94, and Rocco 90. That's my hope for the year (laughter). I'll wait for them.

Q. You'll see the faces in the other dugout?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: Yeah. We're making fun of Kevin now, he's a father, he had the three going.

Now you mention Kevin, he was great. Right before I talked to the Toronto people, he called me like five minutes before and said be yourself, you're going to get this job. I said you don't want me anymore? What's going on? He was awesome, he helped me out a lot.

Q. With a younger clubhouse made younger today, what role do you envision for veteran players? What kind of burden falls on the coaching staff to make sure your younger players are doing great things?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: You know what I like about those guys, they're good people, not only good players, but good people and they're good teammates. So I didn't know that watching from the other side. But when I came to this side and talked to Rivera, and saw the coaches and these guys are awesome, they're good team leaders, that excites me, because they're going to help me a lot with the younger group that we're going to have.

Q. The number of Latino managers in Major League Baseball, when Freddy Gonzalez was fired, there were not. And the numbers of Latino players are very, very high. Now it's gone back up. Why do you think that happens? Like right now we have four Latino managers. Why do you think this happens, all of a sudden there's a lot of opportunities for Latino managers?
CHARLIE MONTOYO: I don't know how that happens. Because Alex won, maybe I've got a chance. I don't know why that happened. But I'm glad he did. So I'm going to try to do my best, because I'll be thinking of all the people while I'm doing this job. I don't know why it happens, but I'm glad it did.

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